[from Proc IoMNH&ASoc vol2 #4 1926]

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

REV. E. H. STENNING, M.A,

30th April, 1925.

Fellow members of the Antiquarian Society, you would like me, naturally, to say a few words (1) about the work of the Society during the year; (2) about what you think are my views of an ideal society; (3) about any work in which I specially have been concerned. This I will attempt to do. But, first, I should like especially to pay a small tribute to the memory of three great members who have been taken from our fellowship during the term of my Presidency.

Of the great mind of Sir William Herdman this Society in particular must retain grateful remembrances. His main researches in Oceanography, both geological and zoological, are intimately bound up with the natural history of this Island, while his great recreation, Archaeology, was as intimately connected with the antiquarian side of our Society. His death means a loss to our Society that can never be replaced. He stood with the pre-eminent scientists of Great Britain, and, therefore, his fame was international and world-wide. To our older members he was a personal friend and adviser. His opinion on anything Manx and anything oceanographic, anything zoological, anything archaeological, was practically law. If he had no definite opinion, his fertile brain could make some apt and helpful suggestion. As a humble disciple of science, I lift my hat to the memory of a great man, and am proud to think that I could count myself with him a fellow member of this Society.

Sir Archibald Geikie, too, stood in that same select band of famous scientific men. No geologist. at any time has ever reached the pinnacle of fame that was his. Beloved alike by the teachers of geology and the students, of all nations of the world, for his charming style and his unassuming opinions, he was the ideal man of science, following the evidence that was revealed to him, as it was revealed to few others in the world, he deduced laws and re-constructed the past in such a wav as to make plain to the amateur the past history of this world, and in particular of this Island. Ever tolerant of the opinion of others, he never thrust his views to the foreground, and so he achieved such fame as practically no other geologist has ever reached, and with the scientific world at large this Society is the poorer for his loss, but the greater by reason of his connection with it and appreciation of its work.

Of James Denton Thompson, I can speak with greater personal feeling. Called to be Bishop of this ancient Diocese,'he could not fail to have more than a lively- interest in those great predecessors, Germanus, Machutus, and, later, Barrow and Wilson, whose lives, too, are our interest. If we do not remember him in the same way as the two great scholars and men of research I have mentioned, at least we remember him as the friend of almost all of us, and a man who had the very deepest respect and affection for the Manx people and the Manx constitution, and the Manx customs.

Now let me review very briefly the work of the Society. We still have giants amongst us. I do not fear for the work of the Society all the time we have to direct us so broad a mind and so scientific a thinker as our much respected and beloved curator, Mr. P. M. C. Kermode. His fame, archaeologically speaking, is of European breadth, and we are more than fortunate that we are able to obtain his help and opinion so easily and so freely. I, personally, feel that in him the Society has an anchor that will keep it from becoming swamped in the sea of the common-place, and I must say that, personally, I hold-and so do the vast number of members of this Society-that his word in any question of Manx or Celtic lore is law. Especially interesting. in this year's work has been his investigation of the ancient Keeill in Kirk German.

Meanwhile, Canon John Quine is also building up a European reputation. His work on the barrows and cists of the Island, together with his paper read before the Cambridge Philosophical Society, on the scribed stones of the Island, has made him famous in archaeological research, and I can, from my own personal knowledge, testify as to the esteem with which he is held at least by the Cambridge School.

A word must be said, too, about the untiring zeal of our quondam secretary, and president-elect, Mr W. Cubbon. Untiring in his work, ever resourceful, and with a great gift of insight, we cannot wish for any more enthusiastic director.

A notable event of this year, too, has been the issue of the photographic facsimile of the Chronica Regum Manniae et Insularum. It is a great thing to have had it published in my year of office, and I shall treasure my copy as a lasting memento both of the happy year as your president, and also as a memento of the zeal and industry, the enthusiasm, and learning of our Society members, to work with whom has always been a pleasure, and who must share a certain amount of credit for so excellent a work.

I think I may claim, too, for my year, Mr Kneen's book of Manx Place Names. I feel I must congratulate him on this work, and say how more than worthy it is of the Society which has taken such an interest in it, and which I hope has shown its appreciation by buying largely of the book. With such men as Mr Kneen in the Society, we feel that the work is in good hands for the present at least,

Of the other papers that have been read during my term of office, I must say how much I enjoyed the paper on Carvals, read for Mr Paton, and the summary of the history of the Abbey at Ballasalla, so ably set out by Mr Cubbon. Mr Ralfe, too, has faithfully recorded and commented on the bird visitors to this Island-surely a unique collection for any place in the world, In his quiet methodical way, he is keeping a record that will be of the utmost service to those naturalists who specialise on the problems of migration and bird life.

I should like to mention, too, the very interesting paper by Mr J. Ronald Bruce, another of our most enthusiastic members of the Society, appearing in the Proceedings of the Liverpool Marine Biological Committee, on the question of the Hydrogen Mon concentration variation, seasonal and tidal; in Port Erin Bay. I should like to suggest that a popularised account of the importance of this question to the marine flora and fauna would prove of great interest to this Society. .

Another interesting item by another enthusiastic member was the lecture on Old Douglas, by Mr G, F. Clucas, the Speaker of the House of Keys. I only regret that all good things seem to come in my holidays, and so I missed this lecture, which I hear spoken of most highly by all who were lucky enough to hear it.

I am more than glad, too, to be able to place on record the fact that the Folk-song Society has devoted a full number of its Magazine to Manx folk music, the paper from the pen of Miss Gilchrist, and with a special debt to another of our members, the Venerable John Kewley.

One more fact-rather an important fact-comes to light with regard to a former member of this Society. Mr H. H. Storey, formerly secretary to the King William's College Natural History Society, affiliated to this Society, and now Government Botanist in Natal, has succeeded in tracing the source of infection of the Mosaic disease of the maize and sugar plants to a species of fly, thereby opening up a prospect of preventive work which will, it is hoped, save the Colony annually thousands of pounds.

So much for the past year. Now as to the ideals of a Society such as this. Are we living up to the ideal? Personally, I think that, while there is much to congratulate ourselves about, there is equally a great deal to criticise ourselves about. Our name has two parts, and suggests two parallel activities, the Antiquarian side, and the Natural History side. Let us consider our cause for self-congratulation. I am not going to say that the Antiquarian part of the Society is ideal. Far from it. It cannot be said to be a ' popular ' side. It does not attract the common people. It is supported by a good stout band of old faithfuls, but the attendances at its meetings are not good, and there seems to be great apathy on the part of the members of the Society towards the record of the Island's history, and we do not seem to have roused any enthusiasm outside. Can we find any reason for this? I confess that I can make but few suggestions. Personallv, I think that it is a mistake to hold the meetings on Thursdays, which presupposes that we are dependent upon early closing, which I should most vigorously deny. I think that we might with advantage change the hour and day of the meetings to other days and hours from time to time. Personally, I could not find a less fortunate time for the meeting than Thursday afternoon. Yet this day seems sacrosanct.

I deplore, too, the coyness with which some members-many members-treat the reading of a paper. As a result, the work descends upon a small party of faithful. I think that the rank and file should make some other further efforts to read papers, however short, on some feature of antiquarian interest in the Island. But, if it is permitted to criticise the Antiquarian side of the Society without the fear of dying for one's temerity, what can be said of the Natural History side? Surely it appears to have breathed its last. Was ever anything more disheartening ? Scarcely a natural history paper has been given. No apparent interest is taken in things naturally historical. In criticism of the Society here, I do most certainly blame the day and hour. That interest is not lacking in the Island in things natural history-wise is shown by the flourishing Geographical Society, which has no difficulty in getting its members in goodly numbers to do half-day excursions to any part of the Island of geographical interest or naturally interesting. I, personally, have taken the members many times round the southern centres of geographical interest. It seems to me that the great mass of people who would like to know more of the natural history of the Island are members of the teaching profession. They are exceedingly keen, but they cannot possibly transfer their enthusiasm to this Society. Of course, conservatism has many advantages, but to suggest as one the keeping out of the teaching profession can scarcely be expected to have my assent. Something needs to be done before this Society can honestly call itself a Natural-History Society. What that something is I can scarcely suggest.

We have in the Biological Station at Port Erin a society of teachers and instructors who could make a reasonable attempt to solve any marine problem, and most terrestrial problems; while at the College there are never wanting qualified men who could help further, and a society of young scientists whose interest at least is enthusiastic. Could not something be done to get an increasing number of naturalists together, and to give them some suitable food for thought?

One is compelled to the conclusion that in this Society are two horses-the Antiquarian horse and the Natural History horsethat will not be driven in pair-harness. It is a great pity.

To turn to my own small efforts for the work, to set before you as the attempts to justify my existence in the Society for the year, there are two matters of which I would speak-the first a very small one, the other promising to be very big, and furnishing me, together with a number of my boys at the College, plenty of employment for our leisure. The first is a discovery made just off the College premises, of a mass of animal bones, which suggest the remains of a Neolithic midden or kitchen heap; while the other is the mapping out of the botanical ecology of the Ballaugh Curragh. Both of these subjects, I hope, will furnish. subject matter for a paper for the Society. I propose to give in a few moments a short digest of the facts in each case, just to fore-shadow the form that the papers will take.

It will be borne in mind that the bay at Castletown is being gradually eroded, The land formation in the middle, while showing signs of being raised beach at the actual water mark, is, on the land side, alluvium, or river drift. In former years the River Silverburn was a great and broad stream, which brought down vast quantities of alluvium, and wore the stones clown much as it does to-day, only on a grander scale. The scourings from the mountains it deposited along the level plain of the South. As a result, Castletown, from the Harbour to the Promenade, is built upon a fine river sand. A member of the College staff was building a house in College Green, and in doing so first of all made a small sand pit in his garden. This eventually became 21 feet in depth. At 17 feet, and again at 20 feet, he ran across a mass of bones. These he submitted to me, and I enlisted the help of Sir Arthur Keith, who identified for me all the portions of bones sent up. They included pieces of the skeletons of sheep, wolves, a pig, and several portions of the Cervis giganteus, the Giant Elk, for which the Island is so famous. These bones all showed signs of glaciation. i e., of having been borne in ice or under ice, so that their faces were scratched and scored, and worn; but one stag's rib in particular showed distinct signs of human working, as though some primitive man had attempted to make of it a piercing instrument, awl, bodkin, or, possibly, a dagger. Some of these hones have been given into my keeping for the present, and I hope to exhibit them at some near meeting, with a description of them and their identification.

The work in the Ballaugh Curragh is far more extensive, and, as it is so far from our doors, it must necessarily be slow. It is an attempt to classify the plant association of the Curragh completely. The Ballaugh Curragh is unique in many ways, and I only wish it could be preserved for birds and plants for all time. Students of botany will remember that the Ecological Society, are attempting to classify plant associations, and to determine the factors that decide what plants grow, and why. following: -

(1) A list of details of the meteorological constants of the area.
(2) A more or less detailed knowledge of the chemical composition of the soil.
(3) A determination at different seasons, and under different conditions of the hydrogen ion concentration of the water of the drains, and the soil water, and of the lacustrine areas.
(4) A fairly intimate knowledge of the different plants growing therein.
(5) The incidence of insects concerned in the fertilisation of various species.
(6) Collection of a knowledge of the chemical analysis of the tissues of the plants concerned, and anything that is known of deterrents to the growth of each species.

Many other points have to be considered, but these are the more important. Here are some difficulties. It is impossible to obtain. accurate determinations of the weather of the area. All that can be done is to make a comparative relation with the official figures of Douglas and our own figures at Castletown for given days, and try to get from them an approximate relation. For example, it would seem that the average rain-fall is considerably less than that of Douglas, but greater than that of Castletown. The temperature of the soil, naturally, differs from both, being considerably cooler in summer and warmer in winter, But I am far from satisfied with my present meteorological data.

The soil analyses, and water hydrogen content afford cot.siderably less difficulty, but the Manx list of plants seems to be absolutely unreliable and useless for the area. Particularly is this the case with regard to the number of what I should call unusual plants, as well as with the nomenclature. I know and must confess that scarcely a month passes when some of our old friends have thrust upon them a new name, and appear under an entirely unfamiliar guise. But our list of plants, limited though it is, does not appear to have been revised durinr, this century. Surelv here is a useful work for this Society.

Of the making of chemical analyses of plant tissues there is no end. Personally, I think that much is to be learned by a knowledge of the inorganic constituents of plants, in regard to their surroundings; but of the weariness of the process, of the countless cover experiments required, and the conflicting results, I can speak, personally, most feelingly. It makes one wonder if any progress can be made. Still, I think I have enough information and enough of interest to appeal to even the amateur naturalist, and I must hope to be able to find time to put the information into paper form for next session.

During the past month, an appeal has been sent to me to try and find out, if possible, whether the butterfly Pyromeis cardui (the painted lady or thistle butterfly) visits this Island. Its migration habits are being . determined by the Chief Entomologist of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture. According to his reports it appears to go north in summer, passing Central Europe in late May or early June, and going south in August and September. It has been recorded m northern Scotland, and even in Iceland. in July. The southern migration is presumably the offspring of the northern migration. But the whole information you may see in No. 2893 of ' Nature.' If any of our entomological members can send me any information as to this pretty visitor, I shall be only too glad to send it on to the investigator. What is wanted is the incidence of the species, specially if in any number, the direction of its flight, and its landing places, whether on any special flowers, and whether for egg laying purposes.

I can, in conclusion, only thank you for the honour you did me in electing me president, and express the sincere hope that at least the work of the Society has not depreciated in value during my happy term of office.

* The Painted Lady is included in the late E. Birchall's list of Manx Butterflies, Feb., 1879 (Y.L.M., Vol. I, Part I, pp. 56) ; and in Mr. H, S. Clarke's List of 1893 (Y.L.M. Vol II., pp. 102). where it is described as 'widely distributed,' and a number of localities given.-(Ed.))

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